


Take Me Home

by captainflintsjacket



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Some Swearing, Some angst, happy ending!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-06 18:01:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20511170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainflintsjacket/pseuds/captainflintsjacket
Summary: Based on the prompt: "Can I request a McCoy x reader ficlet please? The reader is offered a part time lecturing gig in her old school, but reader is anxious about taking it. As she is going to be the youngest tutor yet. Maybe McCoy can hear her out and help her out as she freaks out royally?”





	Take Me Home

_Life is old there_  
Older than the trees  
Younger than the mountains  
Blowin’ like the breeze  
Country roads   
Take me ho- 

The needle scratched against the record and you about jumped out of your skin. The book you were reading clattered to the ground and your tea spilled down the front of your pajamas. Luckily, it was cold by now, long forgotten as you lost yourself in your reading. It was always like that when you read about the stars. In fact, it was part of what drove you to join Starfleet in the first place, although of late you wondered if your feet might not be happier planted solidly on the ground.

You sighed, already accustomed to your own clumsiness as you stood to change. The door to your room slid open and you jumped again, closing your eyes and cursing yourself mentally. Bones froze in the doorway, eyes glued to the tea on your tank top with worry.

“What happened?”

“Nothing,” you said so quietly you weren’t sure if he could hear you. You cleared your throats and tried again: “I spilled my tea. You know how clumsy I am.”

Bones pursed his lips and walked over to the record player. He lifted the needle gently and turned the player off. “Bad day,” he asked, leaning against the wall. “You usually only break out the John Denver when you’re homesick.”

“No. Good day actually. Really good day.” You reached down to pick up your book. You cradled it like a child, smoothing the pages flat with a feather-light touch. “How about you help me change,” you asked Bones, setting the book on the coffee table. Bones laughed softly, shaking his head as he walked towards you.

_Lights. Alarms. Metal splitting glass shattering cables snapping. Sparks. Fire. Air. You needed air. Oh god your legs. Your legs. Your legs weren’t moving where are they why can’t you feel them oh god help Bones Bones help_

“Bones,” you gasped as you shot awake. You struggled to catch your breath as Bones rubbed the small of your back, pressing his lips to your shoulder as he murmured into your skin. You tried to match your breathing to the rhythm of his hand, to focus on the smell of him - a faint mix of disinfectant and sex. How many nights had you ended up like this? How many nights had Bones promised the nightmares would stop soon?

“I’m sorry.” You choked on your tears. Your stubborn streak made Bones look like a pushover, and you were determined not to cry. Not this time. Not ever again.

The sharp sound of metal crashing against metal had you shooting up in your seat. You immediately felt Bones’ arm curled protectively around your waist. “It’s just Jim,” he whispered before pressing a kiss to the side of your head. You groaned up at Jim before dropping your head back on your arms, trying to catch up on some of the sleep you missed last night.

“Geez,” Jim said as he stuffed his mouth full of food. “Wha’s her probom?”

Bones tapped away diligently at his PADD as he finished the last of his day’s paperwork. He put a hand on your ankles, crossed on top of his lap, and stroked them absent-mindedly with his thumb. You smiled and broke your eyes away from your book long enough to watch him. You loved watching him work. He was so singularly focused and so passionate about each and every one of his patients. You could see the effect it had on him. The bags under his eyes and the wrinkles on his forehead that you could never smooth out.

“Thought you analyze space dust not people,” Bones grumbled before he went back to typing.

“The Interstellar Medium, yes, but it’s more than just dust. It’s also comprised of-” You stopped as Bones started snickering. “Jerk.” You poked your tongue out at him before pulling your knees up to your chest and away from him.

“Aw come on, sugar. You know I love it when you get all geeky on me.” You gave a soft harrumph and buried your nose back into your book. Now, it was Bones’ turn to admire you. From the way you tucked your hair behind your ear when it fell from your messy ponytail to the soft snores you made at night (even though you vehemently denied it)… There was no denying that Bones was hopelessly in love with you.

“Why don’t you take the job?”

“Hm,” you hummed, not looking up from your reading.

Bones pulled the book from your hands, sliding his PADD between the pages to mark your spot. “They want you to teach at Stanford. A full-time lecturing position. Why don’t you take it?”

You stared at Bones a long moment. “Have you been going through my inbox?”

“You were mumbling about it in your sleep. It was all I could make out between all the space-y stuff.” Bones waved his hand to show his distaste for the “space-y stuff” and you couldn’t help but smile.

Silence fell again as you stretched your arm out on the back of the couch, tracing the ridges of Bones’ knuckles gently. Bones laced his fingers with yours to still the movement. “Come on, baby girl. Don’t drift off on me like that. Why don’t you want to take it.”

You sighed again, pulling your hand away from Bones. You busied yourself with a stray thread on the hem of your shirt. “I don’t know, Len, I just…..it’s so far.”

“It’s in California. It’s not even an hour drive from Starfleet.”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

“Not any farther than Sulu is from Ben.”

“Yeah but Sulu isn’t terrified of space.”

“And you’re the one who’s been telling me the last six years that I shouldn’t be either. If I need any reassuring I’ll call you.”

“Unless the comms go down again,” you scoffed.

Bones sighed, content to watch you for awhile. Carefully he placed his hand on your knee. “Hey,” he whispered. When you didn’t look up he shook your knee and said “Hey” again, more forcefully. He might not be able to read any of those charts or calculations you made in your reports, but Bones sure could read you. “Tell me what the real problem is, ‘cause you know I’m not leavin’ you sugar. You’re stuck with me just like bad luck to Jim.”

A smile tugged at your lips briefly. You focused on Bones’ breathing, knowing that missing him wasn’t your biggest fear. There had been so many nights that Medbay was swamped and Bones had to sleep in his office or Jim asked you to come on an away mission with him and you slept on alien planets for days - sometimes weeks - at a time. You were used to being separated.

“What if I’m not good enough?”

“What?”

“What if I’m not good enough? I’m half the age of most of the full time lecturers there. What if they think I don’t know what I’m talking about or I slept my way in or-”

“Stop it.” Bones said sternly. As always, you listened. “You went to school there, right? Before Starfleet?” You nodded your head. “So you know the teachers there and they know you?”

“Yes, but-”

“But nothing. You’re amazing at what you do. Even Spock’s impressed with your work and you know how hard it is to impress that green-blooded hobgoblin. Hell, you got picked up by the Enterprise before you even graduated Starfleet. Everyone knows you’re something special.”

Even the warmth of Leonard’s voice couldn’t get rid of the dull chill in your stomach. You swallowed hard against the same fear that crept up on you every night. “What if something happens?”

“Aren’t you the one who always says the Enterprise is the safest place to be?”

You shook your head as you stood. The couch suddenly felt small and you needed to work off some energy. “And look how many times she’s been broken to pieces! What if there’s another incident like the one with Krall or Nero?”

“Then we’ll handle it.”

“Jim died.”

“I saved him.”

“And who’s gonna save you?” Your question echoed off the walls as Bones finally deflated. You felt a tear slip down your cheek and you wiped it away roughly. Bones hand caught your cheek before you could turn away from him.

“What would you do if you were here?”

“What are you talking about?” You pushed his hand away from your face but Bones only moved it to your hip, slipping his fingers beneath your shirt to skirt against your skin. “If I was dying what would you do for me? Could you start a central line? Run the tricorder? Set up a breathing tube? If my throats was closing up and I stopped breathing could you do a tracheotomy?”

“Stop it,” you yelled, pushing away from Bones. He caught your arm and pulled you back against him.

“You’re not a doctor. You’re an astronomer. Ship crashes and people get hurt you can’t do anything, but you can take this job. You can figure out how to make space travel less dangerous for us. You can change the world, but you’re not gonna do it up here.”

You looked at Bones, his hands still wrapped tightly around your wrists. Tears streamed freely down your cheeks now as you stared at him. “I don’t want to leave you,” you whispered.

“You don’t want to stay, either.” He chanced another step forward. When you didn’t back away, he ran a thumb just under your eye and tucked a lock of hair away. “You’re jumpy. You’re not sleeping. The nightmares are getting worse, darling, it doesn’t take a medical degree to figure out something’s wrong.” Bones pressed a kiss to your forehead before pulling you tightly against him. He spoke his next words into your hair, carving the scent and the feel into his memory. “I’d rather have you on the ground and happy. The rest we can work out later.”

**Epilogue**

Your stomach was in knots as you booted your computer up. Carefully, you fixed your hair and touched up your lipstick in the computer’s camera. You wanted to look your best, even if you didn’t feel it. God, what you wouldn’t give to have Bones beside you massaging your feet while his famous chicken soup simmered away in the pot. You forced down the quell of nausea that ripped through you and composed yourself just as the video screen popped up. Bones looked worried as ever.

“Hey, sugar. I thought you had lecture today?”

“Yeah, I do, but I wasn’t feeling so hot, so I-”

“What’s wrong? Are you sick? Do you still have that tricorder I left you?”

You laughed. Of course Bones would jump straight into doctor mode. “Yes, Len, I do. That’s why I’m calling you.”

Bones paled, leaning back in his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Please tell me it’s not serious.”

“You tell me.” You grabbed the tricorder from the table beside you and waved it down your front. It beeped with a diagnosis and you held the screen up to your camera so Bones could see it. He leaned forward again, squinting his eyes to decipher the reading easier.

“Fucking Christ,” he mumbled. He flopped back into his chair and you tossed the tricorder back onto the table. Bones ran a hand through his hair and down his face. His shoulders shook as a quiet sob left him. He stood up suddenly and kissed the camera, beaming at you from wherever he was in space. “I’m gonna be a dad,” he laughed. “Again.” Bones leaned forward to kiss the camera again and you couldn’t help laughing yourself. You wished more than anything you could have him beside you, kissing you in person.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr @trade-baby-blues


End file.
